Highland Knights In Tokyo
by Gojirob
Summary: In 1984,Vampire Nicholas Knight and Sword-Immortal Duncan Macleod team to save Nick's 'sister' Janette from a former lover of hers in Godzilla-besieged Tokyo. Can the heroes survive madmen and dragons, and stop a blood war? Set during the film G84/85


**Highland Knights in Tokyo**  
by Rob Morris

Prologue

ENGLAND, 1755

Skulking about in alleyways was a killing machine nonpareil. Determined to avenge the loss of Scotland's independence, Duncan Macleod hunted the English with a ruthlessness that would lay dormant in him for well over two hundred years thereafter, reawakened only by a Dark Quickening.

Stalking him in those same alleyways was another kind of Immortal. He was determined to find and kill Duncan Macleod. He cried out his intentions.

"You're good, Macleod! But you can't hide forever. You will pay, rest assured. Those men played no part in the Humans' war on Scotland."

A Duncan closer to Kronos in spirit than Darius answered back.

"An Englishman is an Englishman, Nicholas! Living, dead, or undead. You are from France, which has been our ally. This can end here."

There were times that Nicholas fought down his vampiric nature. This was not one of those times.

"Damn You! Those men drank only the blood of animals and child-murderers. They were pillars of their communities. You had no right. Face ME!"

"As my fellow Glenfinnanite would say, I Dinnae Ken So! More English blood is my aim, and I cannot match your speed."

After a savage game of Cat-And-Mouse, Duncan did indeed escape. But his soul would be no lighter for his actions. More, there would be consequences.

GLENFINNAN, ONE MONTH LATER

With a virtual army of the Undead facing them, the Mayor of Glenfinnan came out and met with Nicholas.

"What is it you NightCrawlers want?"

Nicholas shrugged.

"Not much, Monsieur Mayor. Merely the blood of all those with the lineage Macleod."

"But that's nae possible. Almost everyone in town is a Macleod!"

Nicholas smiled.

"Well, then, that makes things easier, doesn't it?"

Like Greek Furies, the vampires descended. Clan Macleod survived that day, but it was not by design of Nicholas, who personally tore out as many throats as he could find. Like Duncan, guilt would later haunt him over these events. But for now, like Duncan, he was a remorseless killer, bent on revenge.

RIVER BEND, MISSOURI, 1984

Duncan looked down at the grave before him.

*SHERMAN T. POTTER, 1898-1983*

"You were a good man, Colonel. You became a valued friend. Be at peace, Sherman."

"More peace than you'll ever find, Macleod. I can't believe a man like Sherman ever called you friend, but then, no one's perfect."

Macleod took note of the fact that Nicholas was unaffected by the rapidly setting sun.

"How is it you're out right now? For that matter, how did you know Sherman Potter?"

"Not that either thing is any of your business. I can resist the last rays of the setting sun and the first rays of the rising sun. I've decided I want back the humanity Lacroix took from me, and have taken steps in that direction. As to Sherman, I spent five years with his family in the 1920's. We were like brothers, before his dying mother Agnes asked me to end her suffering. He understood, but it led to our split. We met again when he was first in command of the 4077th."

Duncan knew what had to be done.

"Not only for the sake of our task in Tokyo, but in memory of this good man, our mutual friend, let the ghosts of London and Glenfinnan rest with him."

Nicholas Knight nodded.

"I'm tired of vengeance. I just want to be a man again. If this didn't involve Janette's safety, I would never have answered Lacroix's summons."

"Nor I Connor's. He may be my kin, but I do not fancy being treated like a lackey. But we will save your sister, Nicholas. This I swear."

"Well, we have no choice, do we? If Kunthar kills her, it's war between the two major Immortal groups on this planet."

"We will not allow that. Tokyo is vast, but we can each sense our objectives. They will be found, and I will take Kunthar's head."

"Yes. I'm-sorry for your family, Duncan."

"And I for yours, Nicholas. To this day, I try to keep your kind left alone. To anyone who asks, I respond that there are no vampires. Seems to work."

Nick stared out at the plunging red ball in the far distance, hazed by light clouds.

"Lacroix informed me that, before Janette was brought over-she and Kunthar were lovers. Could that mean anything?"

"When I have his Quickening, then we will know something of the why. For now, it is her safe return that concerns me. I've stopped trying to figure madmen."

"It is a waste of time, isn't it?"

In the distance, a man watched the odd pair and spoke into a portable recorder.

"Well, Joseph, our dynamic duo is headed for Tokyo. I and your sister will follow, whilst you take care of Lynn. For what it's worth, you were correct. Watching The Kurgan was eating at my soul. Thank You for letting me watch someone like Duncan Macleod while you vacation. I owe you, brother-in-law. Horton out."

BERING SEA, THE SAME MOMENT

A nuclear submarine moved stealthily through Russian waters, awaiting orders to cease maneuvers and sail back to port in Arkhangelesk. Those orders would never come.

"Captain, there is a mass on Sonar. Its shape I fear, is all too familiar. It is easily twice the size of the 1954 event, though."

The seasoned Captain stared in dumb silence. Finally, he spoke.

"Radio the Harbor Master on priority frequencies. Moscow and the whole world must be made aware that Godz-"

No message was ever sent. A third type of Immortal was now headed for Tokyo. One Hundred Meters High, and wider than some buildings, men called it Godzilla. They had thought it was dead, but then Nick and Duncan knew, that was no guarantee of anything. The Highlander was bound for Japan, as was his Watcher, The Knight-And The Ultimate Dragon.

Chapter One- We All Have A Story...

December, 1984, Tokyo, Japan

It was an ancient battle, being fought once again. An epic clash of wills, preordained by nature itself. A reporter was arguing with his editor.

"Screw this whole 'Gentleman's Agreement'! That girl has a right to know her brother is alive. More, the public has a right to know that Gojira has returned."

The editor, too, resented a National Security structure that at times more resembled the British model than the American one it was supposedly based on. But, he was older, more used to these strictures that practice placed on the press. Also, he understood a little better than the youngster what a panic could truly do. After the war, when vengeful Korean gangsters caused a food shortage, things turned very ugly indeed. He laid down the law.

"If you break our agreed-upon silence, you will lose your job, your freedom, and be blamed for a panic that may amount to nothing if Gojira fails to rise against Tokyo. Now, what is the official line?"

This one time, the young man was grateful for his mother's forced-feeding of castor-oil when he was a little kid.

"Gojira is dead, dissolved to nothing in 1954 by The Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon which then vanished with its creator, the revered Serizawa-San."

"Good. Now, we are speaking the same language. Play along, and I won't have you covering piddling events like that medical unit's reunion, last year."

"You know, sir, that unit - The 4077th MASH - was in Tokyo, when Gojira attacked. That was why I didn't fight you on the assignment. I talked with them about their efforts on our behalf. How they set up a makeshift hospital, to deal with the tsunami of wounded that resulted. One of them - had a most interesting comment."

"Oh?"

"Yes. A curious man named Walter O'Reilly. While his appearance seemed that of a man fifty years of age, his demeanor and speech suggested one still much younger-though no less mature. I asked him how he felt when he saw Gojira die, for he was on the ferry with Doctor Yamane, his daughter and her new fiancé. Do You Know What He Said?"

The editor bid him continue.

"He said, in that unique MidWest accent, 'Oh, Godzilla ain't dead. Nobody can kill him. Ain't possible. No, him? He's just hangin' back.' Mister O'Reilly said all this quite matter-of-factly."

"Why don't I recall seeing that in your report, then?"

"Because, sir-At The Time, I Failed To Even Consider The Possibility That He Was Correct! There is more. I checked with certain sources in The US. O'Reilly is listed as a High-Grade Esper by many legitimate scientists."

The Editor frowned.

"Is Gojira through hanging back, then?"

"Sir, If I may not do this story, then what can I do?"

"Ah. Well, it seems that serial killer William Kunthar is in Tokyo. Police have some spotty sightings. You know about Kunthar, correct?"

The younger man, who did not shake at talk of a walking natural disaster like Gojira, did gulp at this story.

"He's the latest in the 'Fair BloodLady Killers'. For centuries, a lunatic has stalked the world, asking women if they are 'Janette, My Fair BloodLady' - and then decaptating them if he does not like their answers. He - rarely likes their answers. Each time they capture and kill the latest copycat, another emerges somewhere else. Heh. Are You Sure I Can't Play It Safe And Just Hunt Gojira?"

"Get out, you bum, or I'll make you watch some of those horrible B-Movies where they turned Gojira into a superhero."

The intrepid reporter left, grinning.

"Now, you're just being cruel."

One person who knew from cruelty was a woman who was simply known as Janette. She had been cruelly used, and had cruelly used others. Janette, you see, was a vampire. She was daughter, as vampire's measure such things, to the man now known as Lucien Lacroix, leader of the largest 'Coexistent' clan on Earth. Clan Licinius, as it was known, differed from many others.

Unlike Clan Orleans, with its affectations and outrageous behavior, its rules were strict, and enforced quickly, not waiting for mortal intervention. Unlike the Hellmouth Clans, it held no traffic with demons or other dark forces, since Lacroix felt that the evil in most men was dark enough without seeking aid and comfort from fallen ones.

No, Lacroix's rules were simple : Feed as you must, do not draw attention, greatly restrict 'recruitment', keep loyal to that which brought you over-and avoid The Immortals Of The Sword. This was both practical and necessary. Many Vampire Clans feared the price of interfering with the fight for The Prize, lest The Last Immortal decide to wipe all Wamphiri away, at that moment when they ruled the world. While Janette had never broken that last rule, her life was a bit more complicated than just that.

She awoke, bound. But the scent involved was a real shock to her.

"Willem? Is It Truly You?"

Of course it was him, she reasoned. Very few men made her ever feel this way.

"Willem Kuntar? Damn You, Willem! Answer Me!"

He emerged exactly as she remembered him, ten centuries back. Charm and good looks that couldn't stop if they tried. She knew she was not facing one of her kind.

"You- You Are A Sword Immortal! Willem, how?"

He smiled, and ran his hand over her form. The ache Janette felt was on multiple levels, but she was frightened, as well. Garlic flowers were laced into her bonds, and the chains were coated in silver. Her Willem meant to keep her, it seemed.

"Janette-My Janette! She who lent me her fortune to seek the Moors in Spain. They killed me, you know. I became a slave to a powerful Immortal, after I awoke. I escaped when The Turks took Constantinople. When I returned to France, I tried to dig up what I could of how you must have died. Instead, I encountered him who you call Lacroix. He told me of how my vanishing suddenly impoverished you, noble lady. Your cruel family hurt you, then a common Pimp named Daviau. Your master told me two more things : How he empowered you, and that what we had was done. I was grateful for the first, but cursed him for the second."

Hungry and now actually horny as well, Janette tried to clear her mind. She cursed Nicola, who made it all seem so easy.

"How did you capture me, Willem? And Why?"

Kunthar pulled out a small object.

"I've always been good with gadgets, My Heart. This one made you imagine that you were fully sated, and in need of regeneration. It plays bugger with your nervous system. It has-other effects. Would you mind if I opened this skylight window?"

"It's late. Do What You Will."

But as he opened it, Janette saw her flesh burn and she began to scream. It was late, as she had said. Late Afternoon.

"I couldn't have any of your clan coming after me, Janette. Duplicates of my toy are on broadcast towers all over Tokyo. They disrupt the internal clocks of non-Mortals. You can't sense what time it is, and none of my kind can sense me, unless they're in the same room. Now, another gadget."

As Janette writhed, a filter went over the skylight. The sun still shined on Janette, but it had no effect. She actually laughed.

"I had forgotten how beautiful it is. Willem, your filter is amazing. But again, why am I here?"

She yelped as he kissed her-and not on the lips.

"My Fair BloodLady, I wish you to bring me over."

Sadly, she shook her head.

"That's not possible, and you know it. Your body will return you to your true form within hours. It will fight off my influence. I am truly sorry, for once I did love you."

Kunthar angrily pulled out faded texts.

"NO! I have these banned alchemist's notes. If you bring me over enough times within one week, I will become a hybrid, the best of both worlds. There are-other factors. But once a hybrid, I will bring you over again, and The Prize will be ours within a year. You will be my Queen, a Goddess at my side-as you always should have been, Janette."

She knew there were reasons why hybrids were forbidden, but none of those were going to be of help in dealing with the lovesick Immortal. So she tried other tacks.

"How can you be so sure of your success?"

He smiled.

"We are in Tokyo, as I have said. A reliable seer I know in New Mexico has predicted that, in December of 1984, a hybrid Immortal of inconceivable power will emerge in this city, and challenge all the great powers of the Earth. That would be-me."

Janette knew of several reliable seers, and felt sure that Kunthar was not merely delusional. If the seer he mentioned in New Mexico was who she thought- Armageddon was assured, for that woman was never wrong.

"Anything else, My Lady?"

Jeannette was grasping at straws.

"Er-My Brother Is A Cop?"

He laughed at what he perceived to be an attempt at humor.

"Now, my dear-you hunger."

Her former lover bent down his neck to where she could reach.

"No! I won't..."

She had bit in before she could think, and again cursed her Nicola, who she thought certain could have resisted. Willem Kunthar was on his way to Second Immortality.

As the plane carrying Nicholas Knight and Duncan Macleod touched down in Tokyo, some people were beginning to swear that they saw orange lights in the ocean. A hybrid Immortal of unbelievable power was almost through hanging back. Soon, Godzilla would return to Tokyo, there to challenge all the powers of The Earth.

Chapter Two - Blood Of Kings

NEW YORK CITY, NASH ANTIQUES

The elder Highlander had his sword at the ready. Whoever had entered his store would at least be absent a finger for it. But his opponent was fast, and grabbed his blade. He lightly plunged it into Connor Macleod's upper chest, and laughed.

"Greetings, Brother!"

Shaking his head, Macleod pulled the blade out and began to heal immediately.

"Brother? Lacroix-I Don't Think So. Why are you here? Have Duncan and your boy succeeded? Or are you here to start the war?"

Lucien Lacroix merely shrugged.

"If the war had started, Macleod-you'd be dead."

In one motion, Connor threw a crossbow bolt right through Lacroix's heart. While far from being truly injured, The Master Vampire was shaken that anyone could move that quickly and not be of his kind.

"You were saying about my death?"

Taking the bolt as an odd gesture of respect, Lacroix pulled it out, then got straight to the point of his visit.

"In Tokyo-there are-complications."

"Yeah, I know. I have friends who were in Tokyo during the first-complication. Good thing Nicholas is there."

"Oh? Why so?"

"Well, my kinsman Duncan is just naive enough not to watch TV or listen to the radio. Once he's on a quest to right wrongs fawgedaboutit. He's obsessive. But there's no way Nick would miss it."

Lacroix sighed.

"I fear, Connor-our kin are made from similar molds. Still, Tokyo's a large city - what then, are the odds of those two ending up in the exact spot the Beast makes landfall?"

The two paranormals nodded, and Connor turned on the TV.

"This is Bernard Shaw for The Cable News Network. In case you're just joining us, In Japan, In The Great City Of Tokyo-It Has Happened Again-Any Minute Now, The City Will Come Under Attack By-"

HAYASHIDA ENTERPRISES

The reporter pressed his curiosity-and his luck.

"Indestructible? Professor, you make Gojira out to be a deity of some kind."

Hayashida shook his head.

"No. Not a deity. He did not create the world. But he is forged of it. He is a King of the Earth. He Is Immortal, with no known weakness."

"What if someone decapitated him?"

"He'd probably just get angry."

TOKYO, HOTEL IFUKUBE

As Nick practically fell through the window, burning, Duncan grabbed some ice water and some refrigerated blood. He closed the shades, and doused the burning vampire.

"Nicholas, I know you're concerned for your sister, but you'll do none of us any good as a pile of ashes, man!"

Nick drank the blood, and seemed to recover.

"I-I know. But Duncan-I couldn't tell what time it was. My internal clock-I saw the light, but I thought-I thought it was the billboards. That-and my hearing was bouncing all over. Kunthar must have Janette in a room that is somehow multi-soundproofed and added several 'white noise' generators. Maybe Lacroix is right-maybe my efforts at changing back are going to destroy me first. What good is a vampire who can't sense the approaching sun?"

"I'll ask you the same question-with a twist. What use a Sword Immortal who can nae sense another? I ran into an old friend. We had to walk straight up to one another before we could confirm who we were. He told me that a group of vampires as live near Fuji met their ends the same way you almost did. He himself had to face a treacherous opponent with no warning at all."

Nick nodded.

"I don't know how your kind senses one another, Macleod. But I suspect that, it too, is based on a metabolic switch. So, it's been a week, our abilities are diminished, and we have no sign of Janette."

"About sums it up, Nick. But-I have a few ideas, based on what you just told me. Do Immortals like myself have a scent?"

"Everyone does. But-Sword Immortals always have an ozone smell-for obvious reasons. Your point?"

"Tonight, we will go out together. I will keep you appraised of the time, and you will sniff for my kind."

"Where? We've looked everywhere I know of, and we both know this city better than anyone this side of Hawkeye Pierce."

"Aye. But Kunthar, I am told, has a love of fashioning gadgetry. It is perhaps a gadget playing havoc with our metabolisms. I myself have avoided the water for no reason I can think of."

"In fact, I flew away from it, almost as though the old legends about my kind and running water were true. But can we be sure of his hiding place being by the waterfront? I'm a cop in Chicago, and not even psychotics are that obvious."

"You yourself provided the clue, Nick. You say you hear echoes of Janette's voice that bounce endlessly. Well, what better conductor of sound than water?"

"You want to apply to the CPD? We could be Knightsky and MacClutch."

"I'm just gonna pretend that ye did not say that."

Outside the hotel that night, the two hopeful rescuers looked about, somewhat confused.

"Hey, Duncan? This Is Tokyo, Right?"

"Aye. But where are all the people? It's like Paris in August."

"I'll scout from above. Clang your sword every ten seconds or so. It'll help me drown out the interference."

"What interference? The city's like a tomb."

"Wait. Macleod-I have her. There's a huge hum developing by a shore, north of us. I-"

"Nicholas-pull back."

When the curfew-enforcing mlitary patrol had passed, the law enforcer in the two men made a reasoned guess.

"An anti-Yakuza strike?"

"That'd be my guess. You go into some areas of Chicago, you need military escort. But-it clears the way for us."

Making their way towards the water, they couldn't know what they were getting into.

Hours earlier, Janette, still a guest of William Kunthar, saw him revert-again.

"It didn't last that time, my dear. But I can still feel traces of your spore in me. I'll be the prophesied hybrid in no time at all."

"William, let me go."

"I think not. You are my love, and my ticket to ultimate power."

"I won't feed off you again. I'm sated."

"Oh-well, then."

Kunthar stabbed Janette.

"Now, if you don't wish to me to turn you on your stomach and take you like a common whore, be -Nice."

"I've been a whore, William. Many of my clients treated me better than you are right now. Besides-I can't feed on you if you do that to me."

He did as he had threatened.

"Watch-Learn-Obey!"

Janette, who once believed she could no longer be hurt, was now being hurt by someone who claimed to love her, and wondered if this was how Nicholas felt when she and Lacroix would frustrate his various efforts to regain his humanity.

By the water's edge, if Nick sensed Janette's agony, he didn't directly show it. Duncan took note of the military hardware.

"This is nae about the Yakuza. That stuff is not meant to interdict drugs."

"Shh-I can hear words, whispered. My Japanese is atrocious, though. What-Macleod, what is 'Gojira'?"

"Ah, well. That's an old Okinawan legend. Of a beast that translates roughly as 'Gorilla-Whale'. It was used in 1954 to describe the attack of the creature known in the States as-"

Then, the two differing Immortals saw something emerge from the water-that simply should not exist. They shouted together.

"GODZILLA!"

In the distance, with his wife sleeping in the car, James Horton chuckled.

"Joe said that you were so bright, Macleod. Must have meant your kinsman." 

Kunthar observed the monitor and screamed. Janette laughed.

"There's your hybrid Immortal, William. Now, let me go!"

But William turned, his eyes vampiric, but not his face. Janette knew, then.

"You've crossed over."

"Before I bring you over, Janette-let me prove my love to you. I go-to slay the Dragon!"

"William, No! You're the only one who knows I'm here. If you die-"

But the dangerous man was already gone, on his fool's quest. Janette cried out once again.

"I'm naked, I'm hungry, there's a big lizard stomping the city, and I have a decidedly un-ladylike itch!"

Still dumbfounded, the two Immortals saw the creature plodding towards shore.

"Nick-you hold him while I get a really big ladder."

"We need bigger swords, Macleod."

"Speak for yourself, man."

They saw Kunthar fly by.

"Duncan-I'll go after him-you go in the direction he came from."

"Be careful, Nicholas-if he is a hybrid, he may have unguessed-at abilities."

Between, The Lady, The Maniac, and The Leviathan, the heroes' work would not be done soon.

Chapter Three - I Am The God Of Kingdom Come

Duncan Macleod was the second Immortal to be called The Highlander and was a fated Champion Of Light. Nicholas Knight would one day lead his Vampire Clan, as it were, back into the light - in a manner of speaking. His 'sister' Janette would find herself travelling on Nicholas' path one day, without even realizing she had done so.

And None Of This Mattered One Wit To The Being Most Called Godzilla.

Actually, it would matter, in a big picture kind of way, but a being of Godzilla's power was, understandably, not details-oriented. He had been crafted by the universe for a simple purpose, that purpose being the thwarting of King Ghidorah, once known as The Ancient Destroyer before his defeat in prehistoric times. Had Mothra, Battra, and Gamera not prevailed and saved the archetypal Gojirasauruses, Ghidorah would have been poised to end all life by Earth's 23rd Century. But history went as it was supposed to. While many might be thankful for this fact, the people of Tokyo in 1984 would not be among them.

Most on Earth had never heard of King Ghidorah. A vastly weaker clone of this creature would not appear on Earth until 1991. Both he and his masters were not what they seemed, or claimed to be. A story for another day, and a mystery worthy of two of The FBI's best and brightest.

But in Tokyo 1984, there was no mystery, nor any conspiracy. There was only a city shattered anew, though certainly not on the level of 1954. For how far the great city had come, though, it may as well have been the wooden tinderbox of so long ago. Godzilla had returned.

As on any day, a thousand thousand stories played themselves out. Godzilla played a role in nearly all of them.

To the insane Sword-Immortal known as Willem Kunthar, he was a goal. Slay this Dragon, his addled mind reasoned, and his captive former lover, Janette, would return his love. For most, this would seem as idle a boast as any the man made. But Macleod and Knight knew the truth about Kunthar. He was now a hybrid, part Sword-Immortal and part Vampire. He now possessed powers above and beyond either group. 

Incredibly, he even had the potential power to slay Godzilla. A philosopher named Linus Van Pelt once said that a great potential is a horrible burden. For the trick was, as always, to make use of that potential.

A Russian freighter in the harbor held a fail-safe. Should Godzilla depart Japan and head west towards The Soviet Union, a satellite relay had a missile at the ready. Using G's relative position as parameters, it would hopefully guarantee the creature's destruction in a worst-case scenario. This action, taken in secret despite the firm anti-nuclear stance of the Japanese government, was not merely revenge for the lost Russian sub. The Moscow regime knew that if Godzilla fed off one of their unstable reactors, something very bad might happen. One year later, something very bad did happen in the Ukraine, but this had nothing to do with Godzilla.

Aboard the freighter was a dying man. As his wounds claimed him, he was content that he had stopped the missile from firing accidentally. For years, rumors would persist that this officer had tried to ensure the missile's launch. But security tapes would emerge after 1990 and clear his name. Either way, he did not fail. Yet the missile was still launched.

"Bursting into the burning ship, our hero calls upon fire from Heaven to slay the Evil Dragon."

As Kuntarov, the mad Immortal had helped design the Soviet missile system, including remote relays. Overriding the dead Russian officer's efforts, he set forward the doom of a city.

NEW YORK CITY

Connor Macleod dejectedly turned off the TV. Lacroix took stock of the news.

"That missile, should it reach Tokyo, will start The Last War! I, for one, do not wish to find out if the hidden races will survive the inferno."

Connor shook his head.

For all their power, the current situation meant that they were just two more people watching Tokyo's destruction on CNN, hoping the American military could bring down the missile that should never have been launched. Lacroix shook his head.

"Connor, you can do amazing things with your Quickening. Ramirez knew tricks I know you have not passed down to your protégé. That's power. I can fly. I could take apart a small army before they knew I was about. If pressed to it, I know methods that could keep me alive, even in the daylit Sahara Desert for up to ten minutes. That's power. So what is it that stalks the streets of Tokyo, and shatters its mighty skyscrapers like they were children's toys?"

Connor shrugged.

"That's-Real Power."

TOKYO

While Nicholas pursued Kunthar, Duncan Macleod found the object of their search-Janette. He burst into the lair of the madman, and wisely sliced through every wire he saw, seeking to disable any booby traps. The still-nude Janette eyed him warily. Duncan hesitated before freeing her.

"Your brother sent me. I am here to free you, and get you back to your father."

As he sliced away her bonds, Duncan offered up his trenchcoat as cover. Janette took it and sat. She looked lost.

"Who are you? You're not one of us."

"No. I am like Kunthar-at least in the fact that we are both Sword-Immortals. I am Duncan Macleod of The Clan Macleod -but Nicholas and I have made our peace. Now, we must all go, to finish Kunthar. If you wish, I will allow you to destroy him."

She sat, and shook her head.

"Lacroix promised me that no one would ever touch me again, Macleod. But Willem did. He used me-in more ways than one. I once encountered a Slayer on peyote who was more coherent towards me than him. He said he loved me."

"I once 'loved' a woman in that manner. She told me to my face to simply go away, and leave her be. I almost did not. But I am rational, and got through it. Just as Nicholas survived your transition from lovers to siblings. On the plane over, his love for you was all he talked about."

She lightly smiled.

"And you survived? If there is a God, let him spare me Nicola on a tear about what we once had."

"Janette-we must begone. Tokyo's most unwanted tourist still stomps about, and I'd just as soon not get underfoot. We've some of your things, back at the hotel."

His words barely registered.

"I'm not a nice, or a good person, Macleod. I kill the Humans for my sustenance. I can't be like Nicholas, bottling cow's blood and such. But even if what I did were not for survival-and if somehow it were truly a sin-would I deserve to be turned on my stomach and used by someone proclaiming his love?"

His response was simple.

"You may or may not deserve a stake, Janette, but no one deserves what he has done to you. Now I suggest we forget my judgment and your fears of karmic judgment and escape the beastie from The Final Judgment."

She got up, and secured the trenchcoat.

"You can have his head, Macleod. Myself, I want nothing more of him-just shut him up, please."

"With pleasure, my dear."

Nearer the center of town, a battle raged. The Super-X was the finest piece of tech available. Its lasers ran hotter, sharper, purer, longer, and always found their mark. Its missiles were designed to slow down Godzilla's internal nuclear reactions. It was powerful. It was resilient. It was quick.

It was tickling him.

The valiant Super-X controllers gained credit for what happened next. It was just as well they did.

The most frightening power the transformed Willem Kunthar gained as a hybrid was the ability to ability to absorb massive amounts of 'lifeforce'. Obscene amounts. Insane amounts.

"Oh, I have your comb, Dragon! Now, yield up your power!"

Grabbing a ridge along one of Godzilla's dorsal fins, Kunthar began to drink in his energy. As the beast faltered, the JSDF assumed that the Cadmium-laced missiles had done their work. Ordinarily, the act of grabbing a hyper-irradiated creature like Godzilla should have burned Kunthar to a crisp. Instead, his new hybrid state caused him to glow, surging with power.

"Kunnntharrrrrrr!"

Flying towards him was Nicholas, eyes full of rage that a member of his family could ever have been touched. From a wrecked museum, he had fetched a large saber, seeking to cut his foe in half. Kunthar smiled.

"Away, Dragon Knight."

Another of the madman's hybrid talents was telekinesis, which he now used to send Nicholas sprawling in the other direction, feet over head while still airborne. A man watching through Binoculars chuckled.

"Kings Of The Earth, Joseph? I Rather Think Not. Darling, I..."

But the man called Horton looked back at his wife, lying in their car-quite dead. Next to her was the now impossibly fast Willem Kunthar, who had torn out her neck.

"Are you recording all this? Oh, good. Then you shall live, to speak of my glory."

Ellen Dawson Horton did not wake up, as her desperate husband shook her body upon Kunthar's departure. He quaked violently, and sobbed openly.

"Ancient, creaking-OBSCENITY! I swear to renew my crusade, and make General Flagg's efforts seem poor by comparison! You shall not endure by dancing on our graves or using us as sustenance a MINUTE LONGER!"

Ellen had almost convinced her husband to go and talk with her brother, about his anti-Immortal feelings. Now, that possible reconciliation was done. The very darkest chapter in the history of the Watchers had begun.

Back near the docks, Duncan made a realistic assessment of their current situation.

"We'll find Nicholas and quit the city as soon as is possible. We may have five hours till sunrise, but if I do not return you both safely to Lacroix, there will still be war."

"I can sense Nicola is nearby, Macleod. In fact, he's getting closer."

"How close?"

As though on cue, the tumbling Nicholas slammed into Duncan, sending them both into the ground. Janette shook her head.

"Wonderful. My brother, the hero, and our dashing rogue of an ally. All I need now to make my rescue complete is The Millennium Falcon!"

"Nicholas?"

"Yes, Duncan?"

"You slashed me."

"Not intentionally."

The humorous scene was broken up by the arrival of Kunthar.

"Janette-rise up with me, that I may bring you over to this new level of power. Be with me again, My Love!"

Tired as hell, Janette shouted back.

"Willem-this may come as a complete surprise to you-but after being kidnapped, stripped, used as a power conduit, and just plain used, period-I find that I don't love you anymore. In fact, compared to you, Godzilla is looking good right now."

Kunthar's face lost all expression.

"Then this world dies."

He said it so matter of factly, even a madman like Caspian of the Four Horsemen might have shook. Nicholas looked up as Kunthar ascended.

"Duncan, he's going to destroy the world! Can he do that?"

At an almost exospheric height, Kunthar sang a mockery of a popular song.

"I'm on the top of the world-looking down on creation-and finding it wanting! Farewell, corrupt planet that denies true love. I shall not mourn you."

Kunthar built the hybrid power up to his limit, preparing a gigantic fireball to roast all The Earth. Then, with little atmosphere, he heard.

Coming at him from one direction was the Russian nuclear missile. Coming at him from the opposite direction was the American nuclear missile fired to shoot it down. Kunthar's last words were sublime, introspective, and philosophical.

"Oh...Shit."

On the ground it was Janette who sensed her captor's passing. In the sky, she smiled as the sparks of Kunthar's energy fell down from the sky.

"Crazy bastard...I'm glad he's dead. But for the first time, I don't want to be glad. I'm just tired. Yes, tired enough to sleep in a coffin if I had to."

Nicholas embraced his mercurial companion of old.

"Whatever our differences-I am joyful beyond measure that you are alive."

"We have a lot to discuss, Nicola. I've come to a-Duncan, whatever are you staring at? Those lights? They're just poor mad Willem's residue."

Duncan's face showed fear.

"No, Janette. It's not merely his residue. It is his Quickening. The Quickening of a hybrid."

Nick shrugged.

"So? No offense, Duncan, but I'm not sure you're even capable of absorbing those strange energies. None of us probably are."

Duncan looked back at the center of town.

"You're wrong, Nick. There Is One Who Can."

In the distance, Godzilla slowly roused, as the energies revived him. Then-he stared over at the docks, seemingly directly at Duncan and the two vampires.

"Uh, Duncan?"

"Yes, Nick?"

"If he now possesses the energies of our two breeds, might he not want-more?"

They all three took this in, as they watched the monster begin towards them. They then gave a response in unison that reflected their Continental lifestyles.

"Sacre Merde!"

Chapter Four - You Can Leave Godzilla…

Armageddon on two legs was now headed for Immortal Duncan Macleod and Vampires Nicholas Knight and Janette. This was not a good position to be in.

Janette spied something.

"Guys-I'm weakened, and so are you. Let's grab that taxicab, about a block down, and drive! The roads are deserted, and if we can reach an airport, we might be able to hide till tomorrow evening."

Godzilla let loose a blue fire-beam, incinerating the cab's position. Duncan gulped.

"The monster does not like taxicabs."

He then got an idea.

"Let's guide him towards that suspension bridge. As it crashes around him, he may become bound up in its cables!"

Godzilla destroyed the suspension bridge. Nick shook his head.

"Wait-there's an abandoned Anti-Aircraft position. If it has enough shells left, we just might be able to turn him away long enough to enable our escape."

Nick flew over, and checked the artillery in question. He punched the controls.

"Dammit! There's only six shots left!"

Duncan threw his arms up.

"Well, that's hardly enough!"

Janette concurred.

"Yeah, you'll never take out Godzilla with just six shots."

"I have it! You two are vampires! Can ye fly quick enough carrying me?"

Nick nodded.

"Sure."

Janette checked the sky.

"There is no way he could match our pace, even with added weight. We're too quick."

A jet fighter strafed the approaching Godzilla, then flew off. As the plane reached the far horizon, the creature turned and incinerated it. Nick stared out, for the jet had almost gone out of his enhanced visual range.

"We're not going to be flying anywhere."

Duncan agreed.

"We need a bloody sign, is what we need."

Since Godzilla had almost reached them, the odd trio began to run like crazy.

Janette remained optimistic.

"We're toe jam!"

Nick remained realistic.

"No, we're not. The intensity of the radiation he's giving off will melt us long before he actually reaches us."

Duncan thought of a loved one.

"Tessa! Get Me Off Of This Crazy Thing!"

All seemed lost, until a PA blared.

"Attention! Please leave, if you have not done so already. We are attempting to lure Godzilla to an active volcano, and will not be responsible if you are in the way."

All three Immortals responded as one.

"We head for the volcano."

Flying low, the vampires and their ally made for the position of the military's last stand. Attracted to their unique energies, Godzilla followed.

Godzilla's path was misinterpreted by certain people.

"Congratulations, Doctor! The loudpeakers are working."

"Yes. Hearing the sound of the seagulls, Godzilla is drawn away from Tokyo and towards the volcano. Science created him, after all. And it is science, not some mumbo-jumbo like prophecies, crystals, and hidden races, that will see Godzilla brought low."

In 1996, the budget review for Super-X3 would have some lawmakers in Japan and The US wondering about the overall effectiveness of Anti-G technology. But in 1984, the loudspeakers were considered a great success. There was much rejoicing.

"Guys, where are we headed?"

"Janette, do ye see a mountain that's churning and bubbling, and surrounded by military hardware?"

"Yes, Macleod. I see it."

"That, then, would be our destination."

"Don't push me, Highlander."

Ascending high up to the mountain's top, the three awaited their pursuer. Duncan dropped with a thud. Janette chuckled.

"Oh, my. Did I do that?"

"Aye. But it's alright, Janette."

Nick shrugged.

"How can you say that, Macleod? Her behavior is juvenile, at best."

"So's mine, Nicholas. After all, I grabbed my overcoat back as I fell."

Despite herself, Janette covered her unclad form with her hands, while Duncan threw back his overcoat. Nick laughed.

"Is that the full moon I see, dearest sister?"

"Stupid little boys!"

"I resent that."

"As do I. Nicholas and I are Big Boys!"

All joking fell away as a rumble came. A face came up, over the mountain precipice. The three joined hands as Godzilla approached. Nick spoke to Janette.

"Remember, aim high over the mouth. The heat will affect our flight."

Duncan threw in.

"Protect your lives first. Connor will understand if I do not return. Lacroix may not be so understanding."

Janette surprised Nick with her next statement.

"While Willem Kunthar stalked the world, hundreds of innocent women died because they weren't me. I'm neither Human nor a humanitarian. But I prefer the blood on my hands to be blood I've spilt. You, Duncan, helped me to witness Willem's destruction. Vengeance for myself and all those others."

She then kissed the Highlander.

"We all go home after this-alive!"

In Paris, Tessa Noel awoke with a start.

"I'll kill him!"

Not knowing why she had said this, she went back to sleep.

At the volcano's mouth, the leap for life was made. All concerned had their own unique thoughts.

"Shit!"

"Shit!"

"Shit!"

To coin a phrase, the heat was hot. The flyers and their passenger landed on the mouth's far side. Nick checked.

"Everyone all right?"

"I have third degree burns."

"Aye. Myself as well."

"Yeah, me too. Just so long as we're all right."

On cue, the explosives at the mouth's other side went off. But Godzilla simply backed away, and did not fall in.

Duncan looked over.

"Alright. This, then, is a bad development."

Nick felt ill.

"Very bad."

Janette wanted to finish this.

"Macleod-give me your hand."

"Janette-"

"Nicola-it was the combined energies of our kinds that revived him. Those energies derived from me. You think of another way-while we take flight."

Back over the pit, they hovered. Macleod hung by his arms. The force and heat were unbelievable. But they could not allow a creature that could conceivably follow them around the world to remain on the loose. Godzilla sensed the mix of energies that so intrigued him. And then he jumped towards the sources of that energy. As the pair pulled back, Nicholas made an obvious but welcome statement.

"The Monster Falls."

They all pulled away, and flew back to the thankfully still-intact hotel. As they did this, further explosions sealed the volcano, making it Godzilla's prison for the next five years. But all concerned knew that The King Of All Monsters would rise again. He was, after all, Immortal.

Two days later, both Nicholas and Duncan tried to comfort a shaking Janette. Neither were successful. The return flight was long and quiet. Duncan did not observe the hateful glare of James Horton. In nine years time, that would cost The Highlander a good deal.

NEW YORK CITY

Horton turned to his brother-in-law.

"Joseph, that monster murdered your sister! How can you take it so calmly?"

"James-what was she doing with you? Why wasn't she evacuated when you first heard of Godzilla's attack?"

Horton's eyes narrowed.

"So you hold me, and not Kunthar, responsible."

Joseph Dawson was still a man in shock, and so left his brother-in-law to himself. Lynn needed her uncle right then.

"So, Joseph-we see whose side you take, even at the worst of it. Perhaps it is not just Kunthar. Perhaps all of them are corrupting monsters. Yes-I see it. I wouldn't have been in Tokyo-except for Duncan Macleod!"

Madness is its own world.

NASH ANTIQUES

Lacroix tried to embrace Janette, but she pushed him away.

"My dear-what is wrong? You are alive, after all. Your stalker is less than ash."

She sniffled.

"You lied to me, Father. You said when you brought me over that no one would ever hurt me again. Well, Kunthar did. You and I are done."

Lacroix stiffened.

"You're talking nonsense, like your brother."

"I am not seeking to become Human, Lacroix. That is Nicola's fairy-tale. But I owe you no more direct allegiance. I shall obey you only as leader of the clan. Nor shall I aid you as you seek to frustrate Nicola's attempts at mortality. It is wrong to violate another's will except for survival. Let him have his quest. Myself-perhaps I shall re-open that tavern Amanda sold me, some years ago. I want a place that is uniquely mine. Come visit, for you are still my family. But in order to enforce your will-You will have to destroy me."

Lacroix appeared to gulp.

"Child, I almost started a war to save your life. Go-in peace."

Nick nodded to Duncan, and the two knew the old enmities were done. He started back for Chicago. Nick said not one word to Lacroix, but this surprised no one at all.

"Tell me, Highlanders-You may not have children, correct?"

Connor nodded.

"Yeah, Lucien. That's correct."

The Vampire-King's eyes almost seemed tearful.

"Then consider yourselves fortunate."

NEW YORK, LATE JULY, 1998

Duncan Macleod raised a glass.

"To boring times!"

Amanda Raven raised a glass.

"To the day we officially run out of vengeance seekers of centuries' vintage."

Nicholas Knight, granted yet a third life by Lacroix's refusal to surrender his son, also raised a glass.

"To old friends and no old fiends."

Doctor Nathalie Lambert, also raised up at the very last minute by Lacroix's hidden methods, raised a glass. Her specially-designed enzymes enabled her and Nick to enjoy a Human meal's taste, even if they could not yet gain nutrition from it.

"To life and love and creeps and criminals of a very normal nature."

All four glasses clanged together. The couples, one soon to part ways, one just getting started, enjoyed this happy moment for what it was worth. Then, all four chairs, and the entire restaurant shook at once. Duncan looked about him.

"Earthquake?"

The other customers and staff exited through the back. Nathalie, both a doctor and a vampire, easily sniffed for blood—and found none in the immediate area.

"Maybe a plane hit a building?"

Amanda, who had often used staged 'disasters' to clear out places she wished to rob in times past, realized that there were no real riches in the immediate area worth the expense of such a ruse.

"Someone with a bad gait is dragging their feet—or something."

Nicholas caught the overwhelming sense of bad breath coated with fish.

"Duncan—suggest you and I stick our heads outside."

"Don't even try it, Nick!"

"Amanda's right. The old boys' club need not apply here."

So it was that all four immortals looked outside the front of the restaurant. The rain was pounding like in a hurricane. Above them, a titan stood, leered—and roared.

Duncan followed the others back inside, as the thing and its military pursuers passed. They sat back down. The Highlander shrugged.

"Well. The good news is, that isn't the real Godzilla…"

THE END


End file.
